Michael J. Griego

GRIEGO, MICHAEL J., Age 55, a longtime resident of Albuquerque, passed away Saturday, December 28, 2013. He is survived by Adelita, his wife of 30 years; his two sons, Michael Jr. and Patrick; his parents, Phil and Gloria Griego; sisters, Phyllis Keller and husband, George: Nancy Gallegos and husband, Mike, and daughters, Michelle and Melissa; Phillip and Estevan Griego, as well as many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his sister, Patricia Kear; and brother, Charles Griego. Mike was a loving husband, father, brother, and son who was a friend to all. He enjoyed golfing, NASCAR, the Olympics, and spending time with family and friends. His smile and laugh were constant which he shared with everyone. He was co-owner of Instrument Service Labs and loved his work. He will truly be missed by all who knew and loved him. Visitation will be Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Rosary at 7:00 p.m., at French - Westside. Mass will be celebrated on Friday, January 3, 2014, 10:00 a.m., at Our Lady of Fatima Church., 4020 Lomas Blvd NE. Please visit our online guestbook for Michael Griego at www.FrenchFunerals.com FRENCH - Westside 9300 Golf Course Rd NW 505-897-0300 EULOGY - Mark Twain said “Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” Writing this speech, I hit the backspace and delete buttons many, many times. I mean, what do you say in this circumstance? With the death of my Dad, I found many I talked to were left speechless, in shock, angry, and left in sorrow. Whatever was able to be said always revolved around how incredibly happy my Dad was. What my Dad did to lead such a happy life was not difficult and I want to let you in on his secret. Honestly it is not a secret, just thought it sounded mysterious to use. Here are the top five things my Dad did. They are incredibly simple, but you should take notes anyway. #5 – Approve of yourself. My Dad was incredibly comfortable with himself; actually very comfortable. I thought he was off his rocker when we would go in public; he acted as how he wanted to. He struck up conversation with everyone he could; whether it was looking for vegetable saplings at the nursery, rifling through fruit in the produce department, or in the lingerie department in Victoria’s Secret. He didn’t care. I, of course, always go embarrassed. Yet, I don’t think it was embarrassment that filled my veins, I believe it was envy. I was jealous that my Dad could walk up to someone he had never met and strike up a conversation. Let me tell you, he struck up many a conversation with some very pretty females regarding the most random stuff. He was comfortable in his own skin. He wasn’t worried about saving face and that is something I am incredibly thankful for being a part of. #4 – Let go of anger. It was rare to see my Dad angry. When he did get angry, it was usually me doing something stupid like getting suspended from school, saying something inappropriate in public, or drawing fake tattoos on myself with a giant sharpie that didn’t wash out for days at a time. Even then, he displaced his anger with love to show me why not to do such things. Even when things were not going his way, he took it in stride letting it roll off his back and continuing on. It was quite astonishing. In the past 15 years, he only let little frustrations show with the releasing of an expletive in a comical and joyful way. Thinking back on it now, I never heard the four word chorus said as amusingly as him. #3 – Do what you want to do. Explains my Dad right? Almost doesn’t need further detail. He did what made him happy. Usually it was playing golf, changing the channel in the middle of my Mom’s movie to NCIS, Castle, a golf tournament or NASCAR, the spoiling of my Mom, or spoiling our two dogs Sugar & Spice. (He really liked giving them an extra cup of food or a few pieces of the bread he got on Saturdays) But it was the little things that I will always remember. Like him buying a movie for the third time even though I told him we already have two copies of it, going out of his way to some flowers to plant in the backyard, buying Garduno’s even though he just got done shopping for lunch and dinner for the week, getting his truck washed by any high school or college athletic department that involved pretty ladies, or planning what to do for his and my Mom’s anniversary…after I remind him that it is coming up of course. His freedom of choice actually segways into the next point… #2 – Don’t focus so much on making yourself feel good. That is something he rarely did, if you can ever say he did it at all. He always made sure to put others before himself. If it was a party to host, he always tried to make sure that it worked for everyone else’s schedule, not his. If there was food to be bought, he always made sure it was something everyone loved to eat. When it came to his family, they always choose the details. You do not know how hard it was to have him make decisions at home. For example, we would ask “what do you want to eat?” he reply was either “ask Mom” or “what do you feel like”? Ah, and I cannot forget the classic shrug he use to give. Even though his mouth made a frowning –type face, it somehow always looked like a smile, was awesome yet confusing all at the same time. The point is, he always made sure others were happy. Through other’s happiness, he found joy and happiness from that. You may have been a recipient of his selflessness. Think back on it. I am sure when he made you happy by doing something for you, he wore a smile at the same time to share the joy. #1 – Lighten up and have some fun. I can say with absolute certainty that my Dad lived by that rule every single day of his life. Having fun was the name of the game and my Dad was the master at it. I can’t remember a time when my Dad wasn’t having fun in one way or another. He always had a smile on his face. Always! Well, when it came to politics, let’s just say it was a touchy subject, but when is it not? He also looked at spending time with family, friends, neighbors, people he just met, co-workers, and customers as something he enjoyed and lived for. He loved hitting the links with his golfing buddies, even on the days where he, and I quote, “played like absolute garbage the first 9 holes…so I opened a beer. It didn’t help.” It seemed like nothing could bring him down. He knew he had the love of family to come home to, the love of friends and others to talk to, and two dogs who gave him unconditional love. With all of that being said, it shows how my Dad lived life. I hope you took notes, even mental ones. Those rules I mentioned are what made him a great man. You now see why I will always use is instead of was from here on out. He will never truly die because we carry his spirit in our soul, his essence in our hearts, and the memories in our mind. We must not look at his death as something to hold us back, but as a way to boost us forward. Use his life as an example to live by, as a template to build from. We have a great ideal to follow. I am going to leave you with this last as it would be something similar my Dad would say in a time like this. “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” – Robert Frost (Notice: I used a blog post for a template for the Eulogy written for my Dad. It’s title “Mark Twain’s 9 Tips For Living A Kickass Life”. I believed my Dad followed every step yet the top 5 I choose represented him splendidly. Here is the link to that blog post and I hope you enjoy the reading of it as much as I did. http://thispageisaboutwords.com/mark-twains-top-9-tips-living-kick-ass-life/)